{"href":"https://api.simplecast.com/oembed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks-and-authors.simplecast.com%2Fepisodes%2Fthe-secular-fundamentalist-2o_TyLLW","width":444,"version":"1.0","type":"rich","title":"The secular fundamentalist","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/ae6533df-095e-4fef-b7ef-69ea44f76a8c/f1167648-bc08-4064-8bed-4372f2be9bb8/mani-shankar-aiyar.jpg","thumbnail_height":300,"provider_url":"https://simplecast.com","provider_name":"Simplecast","html":"<iframe src=\"https://player.simplecast.com/a0ced695-8d9c-4395-b958-38adf95c4b90\" height=\"200\" width=\"100%\" title=\"The secular fundamentalist\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"></iframe>","height":200,"description":"\"Today, the reason I've been completely marginalised is that the leadership of my party regards me as a loose cannon. My commitment to secular fundamentalism is of such a basic character that pragmatic people in the Congress party think I'm being too extreme\" - Mani Shankar Aiyar, politician and author, 'Memoirs of a Maverick' talks to Manjula Narayan about the difference between Hinduism and Hindutva, being brought up as a \"coconut\", Rajiv Gandhi as India's most misunderstood PM, standing up for Nehruvian values, the need to talk to Pakistan, and why he will never stop speaking his mind "}